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The 4th Rikkyo University-Northeastern University International Business Studies Symposium"Developing Responsible Global Leaders"

06/08/2011

A continuing challenge in international business is that of developing responsible, competent global leaders. Every large-scale survey of global business organizations since 1995 has identified a deficit of global leadership capability as the leading concern. Similarly, recent surveys of business schools have identified increasing global leadership competence or skills as a key challenge. These concerns reflect a far broader, societal-level concern that people at all levels of society have need of global consciousness and leadership capability. The call for the development of globally competent leaders begs numerous questions, among them: what constitutes competent and responsible global leadership? How can it be developed?

College of Business of Rikkyo University, Japan, and College of Business Administration of Northeastern University, USA, are pleased to host jointly the two-day symposium that will involve academia and industry in exploring issues and challenges of global business to management, organization, and leadership.

・Wednesday, June 22 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Public Lecture (open to the public): The first day will set the tone with a keynote speech by Professor Stephen Kobrin of Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Simultaneous translation will be provided.

・Thursday, June 23 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.Paper Session (open to graduate students, researchers and interested public): The second day will be devoted to paper sessions organized around a number of sub-themes. It will also include a keynote panel of leading scholars on global leadership development. The entire session will be conducted in English with no translation available.

・No registration fee. ・For the June 22 public lecture, no registration is necessary.・For the June 23 paper session, please register by June 20:

ABOUT THE KEY NOTE SPEAKER: Dr. Stephen J. Kobrin is William H. Wurster Professor of Multinational Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests include globalization, global governance, global strategy, and the politics of international business. One of foremost scholars of global management, he has served as President of the Academy of International Business, Chair of the International Division of the Academy of Management and the Fulbright Awards Disciplinary Advisory Committee in Business Administration. Professor Kobrin is a Fellow of the World Economic Forum. Dr. Kobrin also served Director of the Lauder Institute of University of Pennsylvania. He received his MBA from Wharton and Ph.D from University of Michigan.

ABOUT THE DISCUSSANT: Ms. Yukako Uchinaga is CEO of Berlitz Corporation and Executive Vice President of Benesse Holdings, Inc. since 2008. Under her leadership, Berlitz is transforming itself to become a truly global leadership training and education company catering primarily to corporate clients. Ms. Uchinaga brings to Berlitz extensive experience in global business and technology management. She began her career in 1971 at IBM Japan, where she held several positions in development, marketing and management. She was elected to the board of directors of IBM Japan in 1995. She also serves an independent director of SONY and the chairwoman of J-WIN. She is a member of the advisory board of College of Business, Rikkyo University, since 2009, after serving for two years as its visiting professor, teaching “diversity management.” She holds BS in physics from University of Tokyo.

ABOUT RIKKYO: Centrally located in the bustling Ikebukuro neighborhood of Tokyo, Rikkyo University is one of Japan’s oldest (founded in 1874) and nationally recognized universities. Rikkyo’s tradition of innovative education is alive and well in the College of Business (COB), which has one of most competitive and highly ranked undergraduate business programs. For more information, visit: (http://cob.rikkyo.ac.jp/en/) or (http://english.rikkyo.ac.jp/)

ABOUT NORTHEASTERN: Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a private research university located in the heart of Boston. Northeastern is a leader in worldwide experiential learning, urban engagement, and interdisciplinary research that meets global and societal needs. Our broad mix of experience-based education programs—our signature cooperative education program, as well as student research, service learning, and global learning—build the connections that enable students to transform their lives. For more information, visit: (http://www.cba.neu.edu/)